25 best cold-opens in SNL history
By David Rouben
8. Hillary Clinton’s emotional post-election tribute
How you felt after Donald Trump was elected President depended on how you voted. For his supporters, it was a momentous occasion, and a true feeling of validation after several months of negative coverage — even though it’s only gotten worse now that he’s President. As for Clinton supporters, well, the pictures speak for themselves.
Even with Dave Chappelle as host, it’s no surprise that SNL took on a decidedly somber tone for the cold open. After all, Clinton beat Trump in New York by nearly 2 million votes, and most of their sketches in the build-up to the election were slanted towards her. So the episode opened with Clinton, played by McKinnon, singing “Hallelujah.” People may have been waiting for the punchline to come, but it never did. This wasn’t the time for laughs, it was a time for reflection.
While nearly everyone knows “Hallelujah,” there was a twist in the final verse, when McKinnon adapted a set of lyrics specifically tailored for Clinton:
"I did my best, it wasn’t much I couldn’t feel, so I tried to touch I’ve told the truth, I didn’t come to fool you And even though It all went wrong I’ll stand before the Lord of Song With nothing on my tongue but Hallelujah"
Even though most of the sketches following that also had to do with the election, Chappelle alone was able to make the audience laugh. It was clear that, by booking him, SNL was determined to go all out no matter who won.
Between his job as host and A Tribe Called Quest dropping their first album in 18 years — they were the musical guest that week — there was plenty of escapism to go around following the election. But this cold open hit Clinton’s supporters — and McKinnon, who was desperately trying to fight back tears — right in the feels.